Better Offering Time
Like a kiss or a good joke, timing may be all important for the effectiveness of church offerings as well.
Keith Hamilton with the Georgia Baptist Convention observed that "Giving normally will increase 10-20 percent if the offering is collected at the end of the worship service as opposed to the traditional collection time in the middle."
"Sorry to say," he jokingly adds, "the offering increased based on how good the sermon was that Sunday."
One congregation that opted for a post-sermon offering is First Baptist Church of Lawrenceville, Georgia. Pastor Inman Houston prefers to place the offering at the end of the worship order for two primary reasons.
"First, and most importantly," he notes, "I view the offering as a worship response to God. By placing it at the end of our gathering, we emphasize this truth in our giving. Second, we ask members and guests to fill out an info tab during worship. We collect these tabs through our offering. On the tab, people have the opportunity to indicate that they have made a spiritual decision and/or would like more follow up. If we collected these tabs in the middle of our gathering, we would not allow time for the full work of the Spirit through music and the Word."
Changing the Worship Furniture
Few things are as established as church furniture, and nothing reveals what a church cares more about than how it is arranged.
An elevated, prominent pulpit emphasizes The Authoritative Word; a big platform with the spotlight on the drum set magnifies Worship; an altar stretching across the front of the sanctuary accentuates the Sacraments.
Pastor Phil Wood of Fellowship Church in Carol Stream, Illinois, wonders why some of the furniture cannot be changed regularly. "Most pews are fastened," he notes, "but there are many other items that can be moved or adjusted, depending upon the focus of the particular service."
When celebrating the Eucharist once a month, their communion table is hoisted on the platform and centrally located. At other times, when the service is music heavy, the pulpit is removed or placed in a secondary location, sometimes adding instruments or risers to the platform. In addition to placement, lighting is used to focus and direct attention.
Pastor Ian Simpkus from Poplar Creek Church in Bartlett, Illinois, recently led his congregation to re-arrange the forward-facing chairs in the sanctuary to be in the round, with a raised platform centrally located. The following month the chairs were shaped like a U. His intention, by design, is to keep things fresh and fluid.
Familiarity Breeds Worship
C.S. Lewis, in his book Letters to Malcolm, writes that worship, like dancing, works best when you don't have to think about it: "As long as you notice, and have to count the steps, you are not yet dancing, but only learning to dance."
Worship pastors have attempted many ways to familiarize and help congregations internalize worship. Chris Geiger, worship pastor at Catoctin Valley Community Church in Purcellville, Virginia, believes that "Great worship begins with songs the congregation knows well. I limit my playlist to songs I can repeat throughout the year. I often pick a set of theme songs that gets repeated during a given sermon series."
To help ensure familiarity, his list mirrors the top 40 from the local Christian radio station.
Joe Woolworth from marketingjesus.net writes, "A great way to encourage continual worship outside of services is to provide Spotify playlists of your worship songs from Sunday morning. This is really easy and free for both your church and congregation. Simply create a Spotify account for your church, make a playlist that includes your songs from service, and share the playlist url to your social media sites."
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